Jacques Swaters, Belgian racing driver died he was , 84

Jacques Swaters was a racing driver from Belgium and former team owner of Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge died he was , 84.

(30 October 1926 – 10 December 2010) 


Swaters made his debut in the 24 Hours of Spa in an MG co-driven by his friend and racer-turned-journalist Paul Frère, entered under the Ecurie Francorchamps banner. In 1950 Swaters, Frère and André Pilette established Écurie Belgique, a banner in which they prepared cars for themselves and other Belgian races, both in Grand Prix and sports car racing. Swaters himself raced a yellow Talbot-Lago in several events, including two World Championship rounds, the 1951 German and Italian Grands Prix.

However, in 1952, Swaters and another Belgian, Charles de Tornaco, restarted Ecurie Francorchamps, a racing stable mainly associated with Ferrari. Swaters drove the team Ferrari 500 in a small number of events, but did manage to take a victory at the 1953 Avusrennen, a Formula 2 race. As a driver, Swaters later concentrated in sports car racing at the hand of a Jaguar C-Type and D-Type.

After retiring from racing in 1957, Swaters became manager of the Ecurie Nationale Belge, which had been formed in 1955 as a merger of his Francorchamps, Frère's Ecurie Belgique and Johnny Claes' Ecurie Belge. The ENB entered several Cooper-Climax cars in Formula 2 racing for both experienced and upcoming Belgian drivers, and helped launch the career of Olivier Gendebien, Lucien Bianchi and Mauro Bianchi. The team moved into F1 in 1960 and later reworked the Emeryson into the ENB chassis.

However, by 1964 Swaters was no longer interested in ENB and had turned his attention to sports car racing completely. Swaters' Ecurie Francorchamps, which had remained independent from the ENB effort during the 1950s and 1960s, was always a top contender, with occasional class wins (including the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans) and frequent class podiums. An overall victory at the 1965 500km Spa was Swaters' crowning achievement as a manager.

The Ecurie Francorchamps stopped operating in 1982, but Swaters retained his Garage Francorchamps, a Ferrari dealership. Swaters last appearance in the sports car world was in an Ohio Courtroom where he was defending his possession of a very rare 1954 Ferrari 375 plus chassis 0384AM that was stolen from the U.S. collector Karl Kleve in the late 1980s. Swaters said that he bought the car as a burnt out chassis in 1990, and that he and Kleve settled its ownership in 1999.

Complete World Championship Grand Prix results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Points
1951	Ecurie Belgique	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot Straight-6	SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER 10	ITA Ret	ESP		NC	0
1953	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG	500	NED	BEL DNS	FRA	GBR	GER 7	SUI Ret	ITA	NC	0
1954	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 500/625	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG	500	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI 8	ITA	ESP Ret	NC	0
1955	Ecurie Filipinetti	Gordini T16	Gordini Straight-6	ARG	MON	500	BEL DNA	NED	GBR	ITA			NC	0

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